Monday Guest Viviane Mozer-Y3-W52

Mohammed Alqaq December 23, 2024December 30, 2024

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Get to know Viviane Mozer

By: Mohammed Alqaq | December 23, 2024 | Year 3 – Week 52/2024

Hey, all! I’m Viviane Mozer – I’m Brazilian and currently based in São Paulo. I am trilingual (Spanish, Portuguese, English) and hold a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, a Master’s in Human Resources Management, and specializations in Women in Leadership and AI for Growth. Additionally, I am a certified Professional Coach and hold certifications in Human Change Management and SCRUM Master (I & II).

I’ve been working in the Tech Industry for over 15 years, with a diverse background in Consulting, Solution & Value Advisory, Customer Success, and Strategic Alliances, supporting customers and partners globally. I’m currently working as Senior Manager for Solution Consulting in a Tech company.

I’m also a Squad Member of Latinos in Success, a community built with the purpose of fostering great conversations about Customer Success, Career, and Personal Development. What brings me joy is constantly learning and building something new, as well as helping people with their career development.

Outside my professional life, I’m married, have a daughter-in-law, and love to travel and explore different places.

We asked Viviane to take us through a journey telling us about her career path, how she spends her workday, what advice she can share with someone starting as a customer success manager, and many other questions.

Enjoy reading this interview

Tell us about your career path?

Everything but linear! I started working at the age of 16 in a coffee shop. I was extremely shy, but I began to better understand relationships with people: listening to their feedback, adding new dishes to the menu, and changing the music playlist based on the crowd at the moment. Later, I joined university, completed a couple of internships, and then, started working in the Aviation Industry. There, I learned about resilience, discipline, collaboration, effective communication, and, above all, customer satisfaction.

After completing my master’s degree, I got married and moved to Argentina, where I had to reinvent myself. As a naturally curious person with a passion for processes and building things, I was influenced by my husband, who works in the Tech Industry, to explore this field. I began my journey as an Implementation Consultant for SAP Human Resources Solution, and it was love at first sight!

How did you join Customer Success?

I kept progressing in the Tech path, working in various roles at SAP Partners such as Presales, Project Manager, Practice Leader, and later, I was invited to join SAP as a Value Advisor. After 8 months in this role, my manager at the time (in 2015) received an opportunity to move to a brand-new area: Customer Success. He reached out to me, and, knowing my working style, he believed I would be the perfect candidate for the role. I became one of the first Customer Success Managers at SAP Latin America.

At that time, I started managing 130 customers. With the success of the initiative, more people were hired, and different Business Units began adopting these processes. In 2017, my husband and I moved back to Brazil, and I was promoted to Director of Customer Success for the Human Resources Business Unit. In 2021, I was promoted again, this time to VP of Customer Success for all Cloud Business Units. This role was key to deepening my understanding of how technology can boost various processes within a company.

How would you describe the ideal CSM candidate?

What I can say is that degrees can help, but it’s much more about your eagerness to develop new skills and, most importantly, your behaviors.

First and foremost, you must love people interactions. If you don’t, it’s time to rethink this path!
Stay curious and be a good listener, you’ll need to learn about your company, your solution, your customers, their customers, the business, trends, and so much more.
Work in collaboration, as you’ll partner with multiple areas and people to help your customers thrive.
Finally, master the art of problem-solving and communication. There will be glory days, but you’ll also face challenging situations.

What one piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out as a Customer Success Manager?

Get to know colleagues who are already in this area—ask them about the good, the bad, and the ugly. Also, make sure to start following relevant people and joining related communities. Within your company, do your best to learn about your customers by actively listening to them.

Do your best to learn about your customers by actively listening to them

Can you take us on a journey describing what your workday looks like?

I’m not currently working as a Customer Success Manager, but I bring many aspects of that role into my workday as Manager of Solutions Consulting. Typically, I focus on helping my team get the resources they need for their development, as well as providing the best roadmap and experience for their customers (new or current customers).

Additionally, my day is filled with internal and external meetings (both tactical and strategic), planning sessions, training, and networking—connecting with people to learn, get help, and collaborate.

What makes you feel inspired or motivated?

I feel motivated when I’m constantly learning, collaborating with others and creating – new ideas for current processes or from the scratch.

What’s one thing that people are generally surprised to find out about you?

For sure, it’s my accent when speaking in Spanish—I lived in Argentina for 8 years, and the language we speak at home is Spanish

Who do you look up to the most?

My family, for sure! But I also look up to those who not only possess great professional skills but also remember that we’re humans, bringing those values into their work every day.

What are your top 3 priorities now?

These are my top 3 priorities:

Continuously learning.
Continuing to help my team, colleagues, and Customer Success enthusiasts achieve their career development goals.
Prioritizing what truly matters in both my personal and professional life.

What advice would you give to Customer Success Managers to grow and develop their careers?

Remember that results comes from daily actions! Prioritize your activities so you can have more time to continue learning and expanding your network. It’s easy to get swamped with numerous activities that may not add significant value, and if you’re not careful, you’ll end up stuck in the same place. Moreover, the knowledge and skills you develop in this role are transferable to many others.

What’s your favorite book, and why?

So hard to pick one, but I’ll do my best: one of the books that helped me with communication is Radical Candor, by Kim Scott. It’s about how you can care personally with the person, but at the same time, challenge directly, so feedback can be more precise, but empathetic at the same time. When working with multiple teams, this is key to establish trust and having a great communication.

» Check out the 10 Books a CSM should read to advance and improve their skills.

Have you had your “I’ve made it” moment yet?

I’m a very grateful person for everything I am, have and everything I know I will achieve. I come from a humble family that taught me that things aren’t granted—you must earn them. One of my “I’ve made it” moments was when I was awarded the Winner’s Circle at SAP for the second time, after a year when my team worked in a smart and collaborative way to deliver the best results.